1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the field of vehicle trailers. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable an apparatus, system and method for dovetail trailer locking mechanisms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flatbed trailers are often used to transport heavy or large materials such as farming equipment, goods and materials such as tractors, fencing and corral material, livestock equipment or hay and feeding equipment. Such trailers may also be used to transport automobiles, construction equipment and other large and/or heavy items that would benefit from loading and unloading on a flatbed truck using a ramp. Therefore, some flatbed trailers include a “dovetail”—a portion of the flatbed that can be lowered to the ground in order to create a ramp at the end of the trailer. In this way, equipment, goods and materials can be loaded onto and unloaded from the flatbed trailer more easily. Some dovetail-type flatbed trailers require that the ramp be lowered and raised mechanically. Other flatbed trailers have dovetails that may be raised and lowered hydraulically.
Traditionally, when the dovetail is in the raised position it is held in place using steel pins. Use of pins requires slack in the receiving hole. The slack causes solid shaking when the trailer is travelling, which reduces stability of the trailer. In addition, the dovetail portion of a trailer, when secured by pins, can only accommodate a limited amount of weight. This limits the size and placement of the load the trailer is able to carry and negatively affects weight distribution on the trailer. Limitations of conventional dovetail trailers may also negatively affect towing safety.
Traditional flatbed trailers may also be susceptible to damage due to human error. If the dovetail is accidentally lowered while the pins are still in place, this may cause extensive damage to the trailer that is costly to repair. Furthermore, when a conventional dovetail trailer is rear-ended by another vehicle, the dovetail may flip upwards, with the colliding vehicle sliding underneath the trailer causing serious damage and injury. Finally if the hydraulics that operate the dovetail malfunction, the pins alone cannot hold the weight of the dovetail or any load placed on the top of it. In such an instance, a conventional dovetail trailer may collapse.
Conventionally, dovetail trailers may use C-shaped brackets instead of pins to hold the dovetail in the raised position. These C-shaped brackets suffer from many of the same drawbacks as the pins.
For at least the limitations described above, there is a need for an apparatus, system and method for dovetail locking mechanisms.